Thomas has been eulogized by many - including the US President - as a trailblazer for female journalists, being the first woman to join the White House Correspondents' Association, and the first woman to serve as its president. She was also the first female member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's historic press group.

But the "stand" referred to by Hamas was, perhaps unsurprisingly, nothing to do with women's emancipation. Instead, the group - which calls for the annihilation of the Jewish people in its charter - praised Thomas for a rather ugly tirade against an American rabbi, filmed in 2012.

In the video, seen below, Thomas tells her Jewish interviewer that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine," and that the Jewish people should go home to "Poland, Germany ... and America and everywhere else."

Aside from Israel. Of course.

But if you abbreviate Helen ThoMAS, you're just one A away from Hamas.